''Muirgheis'' is a 1903

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

Thomas O'Brien Butler Thomas O'Brien Butler (3 November 1861 – 7 May 1915; lost on the ''Lusitania''), was an Irish composer who wrote the Irish-language opera ''Muirgheis'' (1903). Biography O'Brien Butler, as he was generally known, was born in Caherciveen, Count ...

(1861–1915), written originally in the Irish language. Caving to market and political pressures of the time, the piece was mainly staged in English. Nonetheless, some consider it the first

Gaeilge Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the p ...

opera. The libretto was written by Thadgh O'Donoghue, with an English version by

Nora Chesson Nora Chesson (2 January 1871 – 14 April 1906) was an English journalist and poet. She won for herself a distinct celebrity as a contributor to most of the English periodicals and newspapers of her time. Biography Eleanor Jane Hopper was born ...

and George Moore. The first full performance took place in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Theatre Royal, on 7 December 1903. The score was printed and published in New York by

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf. The catalogue currently contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on ...

in 1910 (plate no. L. 206.). The scoreOnline a
IMSLP.
/ref> is dedicated "To Clann na hÉireann".

References

External links

* 1903 operas Operas Irish-language operas {{opera-stub